Ariadne was startled. She thought another assassin had been sent, and immediately went on the defensive, but fortunately, it was Kanin.
With the gun he had given her, she had already been thinking about him… and the timing was strangely perfect. Seeing him appear again brought an unexpected sense of relief, and a small, strange expression crossed her face.
“It’s okay!”
“Ah… really okay?”
Her awkward Imperial words made Ariadne laugh despite herself. It felt like her strength had drained a little. Still, thanks to the gun he gave her, she had been able to deal with the pursuing knight.
At the edge of her foggy mind, she thought it was strange—guns and things like that. She wondered if she would see many of them if she went with him to Illiad. Thinking such trivial thoughts made her realize she was alive. That realization made her laugh quietly to herself.
But Kanin was not laughing. To him, the sound seemed like a pained groan.
“Ari… your wound!”
Kanin examined her face, then looked at the sword slashed across her arm, and his expression darkened.
Ariadne glanced sideways at him and leaned back against the carriage. She had lost quite a bit of blood.
She didn’t dislike Kanin’s worried gaze. Perhaps it was because no one had ever truly cared about her safety like this.
A memory from her childhood suddenly surfaced.
[Why didn’t you go out with Ashley today and stayed in your room!?]
She must have been around ten. That day, she had been feeling unwell and resting in her room, but the Count came to her in the afternoon. The reason was that Ashley had wanted to play, and he was upset that her older sister hadn’t gone out with her.
Ariadne had felt hurt. She hadn’t shown that she was sick all day, yet her father cared more about Ashley playing than about her.
Even at that young age, she understood that complaining about being sick would get her nowhere. So she got out of bed and pretended to be fine—at just ten years old.
[It was my fault, Father. Ashley, let’s go.]
She went out with Ashley but ended up sick for three more days. Yet no one acknowledged it. But at that time, she believed she had to do it for Ashley.
The Count’s words—that even with a high fever she had to play with Ashley—flashed through her mind, and she let out a bitter laugh. Foolish memories. How stubborn she had been.
“Ha ha…”
At the same time, she felt absurdly comforted that a man she barely knew was looking after her now. Still, it was a pleasant feeling to have someone worry about her. Ariadne let out a faint smile, touched by the gentleness in Kanin’s gaze, almost to the point of tears.
“Stop the carriage! Get down!”
Kanin panicked inside the moving carriage.
‘Even the man who is usually so calm has this side…’
Ariadne, half-lying on the carriage seat, looked pale. Kanin approached and checked her carefully. Fortunately, aside from her arm, she seemed mostly unharmed. Seeing her nearly closed eyes, he shouted.
“Ariadne! Don’t close your eyes!”
Her mind was hazy. Kanin shook her awake. She opened her eyes with difficulty and spoke weakly.
“The sword… take it out…”
Her body felt weak, but Ariadne knew. In Rensha, the “healing power” called Saint power had its root in self-healing. Before she could heal others, it first worked on her own body.
She hadn’t been struck without a plan. Even if she slept now, her healing would act on her body, and she would wake up fully recovered.
She wanted to rest a little. But Kanin didn’t know this and fussed beside her.
“Ari!”
“I’m okay…”
Ariadne found his constant fussing annoying. She wanted to rest…
Finally, she sat up slightly and pulled the sword from her arm with one hand.
Kanin’s face turned to shock as he saw it. Understandably, without knowledge of her healing power, this was startling—but Ariadne no longer had the energy to explain.
“I’m okay—”
“Are you crazy?!”
Kanin quickly pulled her into his arms, supporting her waist with one hand and beginning to stop the bleeding from her arm with the other.
“We need to get out of here—”
He knew better than anyone that the Count and the Emperor’s group were following Ariadne.
He had arrived first because he rode a mechanical saddle horse—probably much faster than the Emperor.
Kanin jumped down from the carriage with Ariadne in his arms. Staying in the horse-drawn carriage would not get them to their destination safely. He needed to get her to a doctor as quickly as possible, whether to the harbor or elsewhere.
“Ugh.”
Ariadne groaned as the impact jolted her.
“Hang in there—”
Kanin ran beside the horse while supporting her, then once he mounted, he began running faster than anything else.
Soon, he saw the wound on Ariadne’s arm healing right before his eyes.
Amazed, he momentarily lost his words and then gripped the reins firmly.
“You… really… are a true Saint.”
Speaking, he held her body with one hand and the reins with the other as he ran.
Then, he recalled the conversation with the Count:
[If we leave now, we can catch Ariadne! I know for certain!]
[How can you be so sure?]
[I attached a device from the Northern Empire to the jewel on Ariadne’s necklace. It tracks her location.]
He glanced down at the silver necklace around her neck, held limply in his arms.
[That’s it. The tracking device the Count mentioned.]
The Count had given her the necklace without really understanding the device, just to monitor her. Such a cold father.
Kanin decided to remove it quickly, so they could no longer track her.
Looking down at her white neck, he felt her gaze on him.
Ariadne sensed her body healing with each passing moment.
‘Amazing… her healing power…!’
The pain in her arm was gone. Only then did she realize she was in Kanin’s arms. She had rarely been held like this, even by her fiancé Ian, and felt an odd blush of embarrassment.
And…
‘Why is he staring at me like that…?’
Ariadne closed her eyes, thinking he was just checking her injuries.
‘Why is he staring so intently—’
Feeling his gaze linger, she opened her eyes slightly. Their eyes met, and she froze.
Kanin leaned closer, and in an instant, Ariadne flinched, worried he might touch her. It felt like time had stretched endlessly.
“…?”
Her mind was annoyingly sharp. Kanin leaned down, holding her body, and suddenly pressed his lips against her neck.
“What… what are you doing…!”
Unable to act, he bit the necklace on her neck and tore it off.
“Aah.”
The jewel fell apart like sparkling sand. Ariadne blinked, startled. The glitter flew past her eyes and soon out of sight. She then noticed Kanin had finally looked away. Despite the small action, her face felt dizzy and warm all over.
Her cheeks flared red in an instant.
